Okay Moldova, I’ll Stay

Today was our first day back to school. And just like in America, it is difficult to go back. But this morning was particularly difficult. During the first period, I teach 10th form with my partner teacher, Valentina. However, she was absent today, and she had called Maria, one of my other partner teachers, and told her to give the students a test.

I hate giving tests. Since there are so many things I'm hoping to inspire to change, I have to prioritize which things to work on first, and test-taking is something I have decided to work on next year. The students talk, use their books, pass notes, use their cell phones, and pretty much any form of cheating you can think of. I’m about ready to pull my hair out when we give tests. But at least I have my partner teachers in the room to help keep some form of order. However, not this time. The students were worse than usual and very disrespectful towards me. At the end of this period, I walked out the classroom feeling beaten. And I experienced, for the first time, a genuine feeling of quitting.

Luckily, Moldova wants me to stay. Whenever I’m feeling low, Moldova knows and reminds me why I’m here. And this occasion was no different. The very next period, I went to co-teach 5th form with Svetlana, which is one of my favorite age groups. Right after the bell rang, Maria asked Svetlana to work with Valentina’s class since she was absent. So I was left to teach alone. It was wonderful. It’s hard to describe how happy this made me. I love teaching so much, and for the first time in seven months I got to work with the students exactly how I wanted. I walked out of the class with a huge smile on my face.

And this wasn’t the end of my successes that day. With another partner, Tatiana, I was introducing foldables (a 3-D graphic organizer) to the 8th form. This class can be chatty and silly, and they have a hard time focusing. But when I was teaching them the new vocabulary words using a foldable, every single one of them was focused and listening to what I was saying, even the student who has a learning disability. This is a rare occasion even in an American classroom.

So somehow, I started my day with feeling pretty much the worse I have felt since I have been here and walked out of that school feeling like I had just won an Olympic event. So thank you, Moldova. You successful made me remove all thoughts of going home early. I will stay, and I will succeed.